Apple Wireless network question

[iNewbie]

I have 2 of the new Generation Apple Time Capsule routers. I want to place them in different parts of my house to try and get decent coverage.

Where ever I put them I can connect them to a hard ethernet cable and run that back to my central switch. So they don't need to wireless piggyback over each other. I think that's called "extending" but I don't really know.

What is the best way to set this up? My understanding is that I can set them up as two separate networks but with the same name. Then as I move around the house the laptop/devices will connect to the strongest/closest signal.

Is that correct?

Thanks!

 

[outie2k]

Assume you already have a primary router, just set both devices up as Access Points (bridge mode). For the wireless network mode, both would be "Create a wireless Network" and both would set as the same SSID and security mode/password. That way your wireless clients will roam across them.

I have this setup and it works perfectly fine.

 

[ekiro]

Get rid of both. Buy the new AC router. That's all you need.

These days you simply backup to the cloud. Then recover from anywhere.

 

[Scott7975]

I just bought the Linksys AC1900 router. The thing is fast and has coverage everywhere around my house and outside too. I recommend doing that and returning your Time Capsules. USB 3.0 external drive right to the router and you can access it anywhere.

 

[ColdCase]

Get rid of both. Buy the new AC router. That's all you need.

These days you simply backup to the cloud. Then recover from anywhere.

OP says one does not provide whole house coverage for him. Backup to cloud is unsuitable for large files, pretty good for everyday stuff.

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I just bought the Linksys AC1900 router. The thing is fast and has coverage everywhere around my house and outside too. I recommend doing that and returning your Time Capsules. USB 3.0 external drive right to the router and you can access it anywhere.

You can't reliably use it for TimeMachine backups. OP says one router does not provide entire house coverage.

Dunno why he wanted two Time Capsules, but that's what he got.

 

[Bruno09]

I have 2 of the new Generation Apple Time Capsule routers. I want to place them in different parts of my house to try and get decent coverage.

Where ever I put them I can connect them to a hard ethernet cable and run that back to my central switch. So they don't need to wireless piggyback over each other. I think that's called "extending" but I don't really know.

What is the best way to set this up? My understanding is that I can set them up as two separate networks but with the same name. Then as I move around the house the laptop/devices will connect to the strongest/closest signal.

Is that correct?

Thanks!

Hi,

having the 2 TC connected to your router via Ethernet is the best setup you can do.

You are going to setup a "roaming" network.

You must setup so :

For the 2 TC : "create a wireless network".

1. same SSID (wifi network name) for the 2 TC
2. same password
3. same security (WPA2)
4. different channels

As you move around the house the laptop/devices will connect to the strongest/closest signal.

You can set the 2 TC on channel "automatic" (they will automatically choose 2 different channels) but I advice you manually choose 2 channels (one not to close from the other to avoid overlapping).

 

[iNewbie]

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice guys.

I setup the two TimeCapsules to try and get me the most coverage. Seems to be working well. They're both plugged in directly to a Fortigate 60D rather then each other. I set them up on different channels as suggested.

One thing I find interesting, I can copy around 2 gigs to one of them in say 3-4 minutes. But if I manually copy my iWork '09 directory which is 1.7 GB then it takes HOURS. Not sure what's up with that...

Regarding the comments on the hard drives. Yes I back up to the "cloud" with Crashplan. But I want flexibility for local backups as well.

I once lost a Drobo due to a problem. 5 disc unit with 2 discs set for data redundancy. Guess what? If the File System goes bad as mine did for an unknown reason it doesn't matter how many redundant disks you have.

So these days I practice backup overkill.

 

[Bruno09]

One thing I find interesting, I can copy around 2 gigs to one of them in say 3-4 minutes. But if I manually copy my iWork '09 directory which is 1.7 GB then it takes HOURS. Not sure what's up with that...

Could be that one of the channel has to be changed.

You can use iStumbler and choose another less crowded channel.